2018 in Review

Hello everyone, I hope you’re well. I hope you have all had a lovely Christmas, and indulged yourself and had a chance to relax and have some you time. Today I wanted to reflect on the past year; what I’ve achieved, what I’m grateful for, and what I’m looking forward for in the next year to come. I know almost everyone says this year after year, but I simply cannot get my head around how quickly this year has gone. It’s been a whirlwind, and here we are, just a couple of days away from 2019.

Graduating with a 1st

In July I graduated from my BSc Sociology degree with first class honours. This was a huge achievement for me, and one I will forever be proud of. My graduation day was spent celebrating with family, and I thankfully got very lucky with the weather which was a perfect bonus. Graduating was also the confirmation that I had successfully got onto my Masters degree which I started in October.

Starting a Masters Degree

In October I started my Masters degree in Digital Marketing. A totally new subject for me, but one I was excited to start. One semester in and I can say it’s been challenging, and a lot of work, but I’m enjoying the challenge and learning a new subject. Most of all, I’m excited and motivated to begin my career after graduating.

Turned 21

In July I celebrated my 21st birthday. I’m not big on birthdays, but this one was a little more of a special number. I love having a summer birthday.

Passed driving test

In November, I finally passed my driving test and got my first car. The freedom of being able to drive has been such an amazing change for me, and after a few failed attempts it felt like a huge achievement to finally pass in the end. It may have taken me longer to get there than others, but I didn’t give up, and I achieved my goal.

Launched only Shelley Boutique

In September I launched my online e-commerce jewellery store Only Shelley Boutique. This was something I had been toying with for a while, and over the summer I bit the bullet, started my research, and made it happen. I have ideas and plans in the works to expand this in 2019, and I am incredibly thankful for the support I’ve received so far with it.

Holidays

Over the summer I had two wonderful holidays that I’m incredibly grateful for. In May I went on a family holiday to Corfu which was a week of absolute bliss, and was perfectly timed to just after finishing my degree so it felt very deserved. You can read about my trip to Corfu here. In June, me and my partner went on a holiday to Kos for a week of relaxation in the sun, which I wrote about here.

Blog collaborations

This year I have also done a number of blog collaborations that I’m proud of, it’s always such a wonderful feeling when a brand that you genuinely love and support wants to work with you on creating some content. Some recent examples that I have I really enjoyed collaborating with is; Herbalife Nutrition, Aldi, and Femme Luxe.

My blog has been my hobby for a number of years now, I love expressing my creativity through this outlet and I hope to carry on creating content in 2019.